Pietersen Confirms World Cup Involvement Over

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has used his Twitter page to confirm that his participation in the Cricket World Cup is over and he is to return home to have surgery on a hernia.

He was due to have the surgery following the conclusion of the World Cup in April but after he reported soreness following a bowling spell against South Africa in Chennai, he has been forced out of the tournament.

He later added: "Not a lot u can do about injuries...onwards & upwards.." and also "Sad to leave India.. Love the people & the hospitality!!"

With Pietersen out of the competition, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) now have the opportunity to name a replacement, likely to be Eoin Morgan.

He was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured finger but has since made a recovery; like Pietersen, using Twitter to inform people of his injury progress.

Pietersen has recently been shifted up the order to open the batting alongside Andrew Strauss, top scoring with 59 against Ireland and his exit means England will need to rethink their batting line-up.

Contenders to move up the order would be Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell, Luke Wright and Matthew Prior, who have both done the job before while former captain Michael Vaughan has suggested that Graeme Swann could also be in the frame.

"Here is one for out of the box... Swann to replace KP as opener..," he posted on Twitter.

Swann has opened the batting for Nottinghamshire in both Twenty20 and one-day cricket but has yet to pass 34 in ODIs.